


save a space inside for me

by PotatoLady



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kindness, Mercyfic, Pack Dynamics, Pack Feels, Past Abuse, Past Sexual Abuse, Power Imbalance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:40:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28851462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PotatoLady/pseuds/PotatoLady
Summary: Kell is a shifter without a pack. He's hoping to convince this new alpha to keep him around, if only to weather out the winter.The offer he gets instead is beyond his wildest hopes.
Relationships: Original Character & Original Character
Comments: 6
Kudos: 33





	save a space inside for me

**Author's Note:**

> Title from 'Never Again' by Breaking Benjamin. 
> 
> Have another angsty h/c fic! I still want to continue Bitter Skins and so take those lyrics serious, but what I want to write and what I actually write is a venn diagram with very little crossover XD 
> 
> Love y'all, and hope you're doing well!

Kell wasn't particularly pretty, or valuable. He knew that all too well. That was how he'd ended up half-frozen and starving in a ditch in the first place--when resources were scarce, you didn't waste them on someone who wasn't providing for you, in return.   
That was why Kell _needed_ to prove himself worthy of this new pack. 

  
They'd taken him out of the ditch he'd ended up in. They'd fed him, washed him, given him new clothes. He'd never experienced kindness like theirs before, and while he would have been willing to do anything for even something so simple as a level of protection and a chance to earn food, the easy way that this pack had lavished him with care made Kell desperate to stay. 

  
"Are you alright?" 

  
Kell jerked, and clasped his hands together, trying to keep them from shaking. He was aware he looked like someone coming unstrung, but he told himself he still had a chance to prove his worth. 

  
"Fine, alpha." 

  
Across the fire from him, the pack alpha raised her eyebrow. She was a formidable woman, with a long beaked nose and streaks of distinguished grey in her dark curly hair.   
"I'm not going to hurt you," she said. "And my name's Moira. You may call me by it." 

  
"Yes, A--Moira," 

  
Kell stumbled over the name, nervous. It felt wrong, addressing a pack leader by their first name; but it didn't feel quite as wrong as refusing such a simple request. 

  
Moira had sent the others away from the fire, requesting that Kell stay behind, with her. It was Kell's chance to convince her, to solidify some place for himself in this pack. He needed to stay for the winter, at the very least. If he was cast out again, he'd be dead within a week. 

  
He took a breath. He needed to move before he became too afraid. 

  
"I'm grateful, so grateful, for all you've done for me already, and I'm eager to pay you back in any way you can," he said. His breath was running out far too quickly, but he couldn't stop now. 

  
"I can do any kind of labor, and I have experience in repairing clothing," he said, "as well as preparing food, and dressing game."   
He was painfully aware that he was listing off a lot of things that almost everyone could do, and even more painfully aware of the fact that he did none of them well. 

  
"I'll do anything you ask of me." He concluded, and placed his trembling hands flat on his knees. 

  
The alpha cocked her head at him, a little of the wolf showing past her human form. 

  
"I'm sure you'll pull your weight for the pack," she said, waving a hand softly.

"You've been very earnest, and honestly, I'm more concerned with how difficult it's been to get you to rest than afraid you'll simply laze about. Either way, though, that isn't what I wanted to talk to you about."

  
Kell swallowed. 

  
"I spoke out of turn, Moira. I'm sorry." 

  
The alpha huffed, her breath forming white dog in the chilly evening air. 

  
"You've done nothing wrong. I just wanted to ask you what your plans were."

  
"My plans?" Kell asked.

He hadn't had plans in years--at least, none more long-term than "get food today" or more complicated than "avoid being beaten as long as possible". Currently, his greatest hope was to stay with this pack as long as they'd allow it. They had been kind to him; he could not imagine any greater future than a life in a kind pack.   
Not that he imagined they'd continue to pamper him the way they had been--he'd make mistakes sooner or later, and punishment would be swift when he did. He didn't think they would be unfair, though. 

  
"Yes, plans." Moira said. "You're welcome to join our pack for the winter--we wouldn't leave you to yourself, that would be a death sentence. Unless you had somewhere you were hoping to go--another pack, or a settlement somewhere?" 

  
That was--that was an offer to stay. For the whole winter! He could stay with this pack, for the whole winter. He thought he'd have to beg for this, and she was just offering it, as if it had been a foregone conclusion. 

  
"Yes!" He said--almost yelped, in his excitement. "Yes--please. I would like to stay." 

  
Moira smiled at him. 

  
"Good," she said. "I'm glad. We're happy to have you, Kell, and you're more than welcome to join us for a season, with no obligation to stay. There was another option I wanted to offer, though." 

  
She was so kind. So gracious. Kell could not help the way his head tipped to one side in quiet submission, waiting to hear what the third option was. 

  
"I'd also like to lay open to you a permanent place in this pack," she said. 

  
Kell's head snapped up in shock. He stared, meeting the alpha's eyes and barely caring how disrespectful he was being, because--what?

  
Moira shifted where she sat, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees. The firelight glinted golden over her skin, showing up the small dints and lines of past scars. She'd fought for her pack before, and she had won. Kell couldn't take his eyes away. 

  
"This isn't an offer I make lightly, Kell. You haven't been with us long, but you're good with the children. You're eager to help. You're kind, in spite of what's been done to you. That's something I'd like to have in my pack. The others agree." 

  
Kell felt like his lungs were being squeezed, wrung out like a wet shirt. He couldn't--no. This wasn't something shifters like him were ever offered. Maybe, he'd hoped, someday, if he'd been a good enough fuck, a faithful enough servant, maybe a pack alpha would want to keep him around. But--he wasn't what she was saying. He wasn't good, or valuable, or worthwhile. He wasn't--someone who got offers like this. He didn't deserve them.   
He also couldn't afford to refuse. 

  
"You don't have to decide now," Moira was saying, but Kell was already pulling at the collar of his shirt, baring the scent gland in his neck. 

  
"Please," he said. "Please, I--I want to be pack." 

  
Moira made a pained noise, getting quickly to her feet and walking around the fire. She knelt beside him, and brushed gentle fingers over the back of his neck. 

  
"Are you sure?" She asked, gentle as a whisper. "You can take your time to decide. I won't withdraw the offer."

  
"Please," Kell said. He looked up again, into her dark eyes. "I've never had--I've always been disposable. Passed around. Never kept. Never pack. If you'll have me, I--I want this."   
She searched his eyes for a moment, her gaze as soft as her touch. Then she nodded, and bent down. 

  
Her teeth barely brushed his neck before she was biting down, puncturing the skin with a brief burn of pain that was quickly overwhelmed by a rush of warmth. He could feel her claim over him, and it was familial, kind, protective; like a mother's care for her child. More than that, he could feel the other members of the pack--tiny, nameless vignettes of emotion, and a warm spark of welcome from each fragile connection as they felt him prodding at the bond. They wanted him here. They all wanted him here.   
Kell's breath hitched in a sob. 

  
"I'm fine," he said.

Moira wrapped her arms around him anyway. He sobbed again. He couldn't stop. He was embarrassing himself.

  
"I'm sorry, I--" 

  
"Shhh," Moira said, and he could feel her care, her warmth, her lack of judgment. It was so different from his own turbulent emotional state that he sank further into her arms, no longer caring about being pathetic. He was pack now. She couldn't throw him away. 

  
"It's okay," she whispered, stroking his back.

"You're okay."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> P.S., I don't have any solid ideas for how to expand on this, but I wouldn't be opposed to it! If y'all have any ideas for scenes or things you'd like to see, I'd be happy to write them.


End file.
